The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting Wednesday granted approval for the procurement of arms and ammunition for the armed guards of the Nigerian Prisons Service.
The meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also approved the procurement, installation and commissioning of Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) to guide pilots and planes to the central line of the runway in Abuja, Kaduna, Benin, Ibadan and Enugu airports
Briefings journalists after the FEC meeting, the Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd), said the approval for the procurement of arms for prison guards was necessitated by the need to secure the prisons, particularly where inmates require maximum security.
Drawing inference from the Minna, Niger State prison attacked where some dangerous prisoners were set free, Dambazzau said: “We realised after investigation of that attack that one of the major shortcomings within that prison was lack of adequate arms and ammunition.
“We are procuring 400 pieces of beretta assault rifles with 20, 000 rounds. These rounds are peculiar to those weapons at the cost of N272 ,489, 280 with period of delivery of 120 days.”